


Missing You

by TheRealDanniX



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Based on a Tumblr Post, Love Confessions, M/M, Zuko (Avatar)-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-28
Updated: 2020-08-28
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:22:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,373
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26151064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheRealDanniX/pseuds/TheRealDanniX
Summary: There's suddenly a new Water Tribe Ambassador, and Zuko is the only one who remembers Sokka. Even Katara and Aang don't. Zuko is determined to find him.
Relationships: Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 236





	Missing You

**Author's Note:**

> I saw this post on Tumblr by queendearings about Zuko being the only one who remembers Sokka one day and my hand slipped. So now we have this.
> 
> Let me know what you think in the comments and drop a Kudos if you like it!

Zuko was surprised but not concerned when Sokka didn’t show up for breakfast. He was more concerned when he had yet to spot the Ambassador from the Southern Water Tribe as he arrived at the meeting. Since Aang and Katara had been visiting Sokka, they were at the meeting, but Sokka was not. Instead, another woman, in Water Tribe garb, was in Sokka’s normal seat. “Who are you?” Zuko asked.

The woman rolled her eyes. “Very amusing, Lord Zuko. Almost as amusing as it has been for the past three weeks.”

Zuko frowned. What? “I’ve never seen you before today.”

“Of course, my Lord,” she said, rolling her eyes again. Katara snickered. “I’m Ambassador Eska of the Southern Water Tribe. Same as I have been since being appointed a year ago when the council formed.” She gave him a pointed look, raising an eyebrow, while the corners of her mouth twitched upwards.

“Sokka is the Ambassador,” Zuko said. Eska’s face hardened.

“Who the hell is Sokka?” Katara snorted, still clearly thinking this was some kind of joke.

“Your brother,” Zuko said flatly, frown intensifying.

Katara frowned. “Are you being serious right now, Zuko?” She paused, but when Zuko didn’t reply or relax she went on. “Zuko, I don’t have a brother.” What the fuck.

“Yes, you do. Blue eyes. Hair in a ponytail. Just shorter than me. _He’s_ the Ambassador from the Southern Water Tribe. He helped Toph and Suki bring down the balloons when Aang took care of my father.”

“Toph and Suki took down the balloons on their own, Zuko,” Aang chimed.

“No, they didn’t. Sokka helped. He lost his space sword saving Toph. He came up with the invasion plan on the day of the eclipse. He saved your dad and Suki from Boiling Rock. He’s always got that stupid boomerang and comes up with dumb names for people who attack us,” Zuko insisted. Katara shook her head.

“Zuko, you saved Dad and Suki,” Aang said, also frowning. Zuko glared at him. “And nobody we know uses a boomerang.” Zuko felt sick. He wanted to throw up or punch something or burn something. His fire bending burned under his skin in a way it hadn’t since he’d joined the Avatar’s group.

Eska rose from her seat. “Perhaps we should postpone this meeting, Lord Zuko.” She didn’t wait for a response before leaving the meeting room. Katara and Aang both moved over to where Zuko was stand, having never made it to his seat.

“Are you feeling ok, Zuko?” Katara asked.

“I’m fine!” Zuko snapped. “You are the one who forgot your own brother!”

“Zuko, I don’t have a brother.”

“Yes, you do.” What was happening here?

“Maybe it was a dream,” Aang offered, always trying to fix the problem. But the only solution that Zuko wanted was Sokka.

“It wasn’t a dream,” he growled. “And if you won’t believe me, then I will find him myself.” He stormed off, not sure where he was heading other than to find Sokka. Sokka was one of the main reasons they had even managed to defeat his father. Why couldn’t Aang and Katara remember him? Why could Zuko? He had to find him. He had to fix this because no one else would. Zuko stormed past Ambassador Eska, who gave him a strange look. He went to his rooms first, pacing and trying to figure out what was going on. Maybe Aang was right about dreams. Maybe this was a dream. But then why couldn’t he wake up? His mother told him he could tell if he was dreaming by counting his fingers since you had extra fingers in your dreams. He frantically counted his fingers. Ten. Five on each hand. Not a dream. What else could it be? Sokka couldn’t just disappear. He couldn’t just be gone. No, not just gone. It was like he’d never existed. At least in everyone else’s mind. Zuko found himself wishing even more that Sokka was here. He could come up with other ideas to fix things. Of course, the thing that needed fixing was finding Sokka. Zuko paced in his rooms for a while trying to think, until he found himself wanted to set fire to the room.

He started walking, not sure where he was heading until he found himself in the garden staring at the turtleduck pond. It was the last place he’d seen Sokka, smiling, and wishing each other good night. Zuko and Sokka ended the day by the pond more often than not. Zuko went there to find some calm at the end of the day, and Sokka had a tendency to follow him talking about whatever struck his interest as long as it had nothing to do with the work of being the Fire Lord or Water Tribe Ambassador. Secretly, it was Zuko’s favorite part of the day. Zuko sat in his normal seat, staring at where Sokka would usually sit. He could almost see the other man there, laying back on his elbows talking into the sky. A turtleduck moved towards the pond, breaking the image and leaving a heartbreakingly empty space where Sokka should be. Zuko settled back on his own arms, turning to face the pond. The sun had started to set. Sokka had been gone the whole day. A whole day without hearing him laugh. A day with no crazy schemes or inappropriate nicknames for heads of state. A day with no sparring practice. No loud discussions or intense strategy sessions. No hugs or friendly touch to ease his tension. When had Zuko become so dependent on Sokka’s presence in his life? Why did it hurt so much to lose him? Zuko sat there, thinking about Sokka until long after the sun had set. He shifted until he was flat on his back, staring at the stars. Eventually, Zuko fell asleep.

_He could hear someone shouting. Begging. The words too faded to make out until Zuko moved closer. “Please! Can hear me?” Sokka’s voice. Zuko ran towards it until he saw Sokka standing in front of him._

_“Sokka,” Zuko breathed, a smile forming on his face. Sokka was facing him, blue eyes wide and frantic and looking right through Zuko._

_“Can you hear me?” Sokka yelled again, hands around his mouth and voice sounding boarding on hoarse. “Zuko!”_

_“Sokka, I’m right here,” Zuko tried again. Sokka didn’t hear him._

_“Zuko! Please!” Sokka fell to his knees, looking at something behind Zuko that Zuko couldn’t see. “Why can’t you see me?” Sokka whimpered. Zuko’s heart shattered. “I’m right here. I’m right beside you like always. Don’t tell me you’re forgetting me too. Please. I can’t lose you too. I can’t…” Sokka cut himself off with a sob. “Katara was bad enough, but I can’t handle you forgetting me.”_

_Zuko knelt in front of Sokka. “I won’t. I swear.”_

_“You spent all day thinking. I could see it on your face. I could hear how angry you were. I wanted so badly to comfort you, but you can’t hear me.” Sokka was quiet for a moment, wiping his eyes of the tears that had formed there. “I don’t want to leave you alone again, but I tried everything I could think of and I couldn’t fix this. Please, just, wake up and tell me I’m stupid and this was all a dream.” Sokka let out another sob, tears falling faster. “Please. I can’t take it if this is all that’s left for me. There were so many things I wanted to do. So many things I wanted to say.”_

_“You’ll get to say them,” Zuko declared, feeling tears in his own eyes. Sokka shifted until he was looking directly at Zuko’s face, still looking past him._

_“Spirits, Zuko I had so many plans. I love you so much and I had plans!” Sokka cried. Zuko froze. Love? Sokka…loves him? “I was going to ask you on a date, and we were going to eat some big fancy meal, and I was gonna kiss you goodnight.” Sokka lost his voice again, turning away and rubbing frantically at his eyes. “I don’t know if you would have even said yes. Now, I can’t even ask.”_

_“I’ll say yes.” He knew it was true. He hadn’t thought about it before, but of course, he would say yes. He had never smiled as much as he had when Sokka was around. Sokka was the person he turned to when he was stressed or hurting, even when Sokka wasn’t on the same continent. And he had done the same for Sokka._

_“Zuko, please. Please tell me you can hear me. I need you. Please,” Sokka begged. He collapsed in on himself, shifting to pull his knees to chest, crying openly. Zuko ached to reach for him and comfort him._

_“I can hear you, Sokka,” Zuko said, voice breaking. “I know you can’t hear me right not, but I swear I’ll fix this, because I love you too. I’ll tell you the minute you’re back, and you can make all the plans you want. I promise, Sokka. I won’t forget you. I won’t let you stay gone. I promise.” Sokka looked up, looking past Zuko again. His glassy eyes focused on something and his face softened like it had when he’d learned the truth about Zuko’s scar._

_“Zuko,” he whispered. “Why are you crying, love?”_

The early sun woke Zuko up with tears in his eyes still laying by the turtleduck pond. Before he was fully awake, he was looking at where Sokka should have been. The grass was disturbed like someone had been sitting there. It hadn’t been a Zuko aimed his gaze at where Sokka’s eyes should have been. “I know you’re here,” Zuko said, voice shaking. “And I’m going to get you back.” Zuko pushed himself off the ground and sped to Sokka’s room, where he should have started yesterday. It looked the same as always. Sokka’s maps were on the table, his weapons lined carefully against the wall. All except the boomerang, which was sitting on the unmade bed. Zuko gingerly traced the edge of the blade. “You never made it to bed. Whatever happened, it happened that night, sometime after we left the turtleduck pond.” He picked up the boomerang and tucked it into its sheath. Then he pulled it on. He couldn’t say why exactly, but he didn’t want the weapon, which Sokka had carried with him for the last decade, to just sit among the other abandoned items. No. Not abandoned. Sokka would come back to them. He had to. He scanned the rest of the room. Nothing was out of place. So, whatever happened, didn’t happen here. “Where did you go?” Zuko frowned. It was dark when they had separated and Sokka still had his boomerang with him then. He’d clearly made it back to his room and removed his boomerang. “The full moon,” Zuko realized. “It was the full moon that night.” Of course! Sokka always went to talk to Yue when the moon was full. Zuko had found him on the roof a couple of times when the Fire Lord was having a sleepless night. Zuko rushed to the roof access but stopped when he saw Eska blocking it.

“Good Morning Lord Zuko.” Her tone was sickly sweet. “Feeling better this morning?” There was something off about how she was looking at him.

“I’m not sure what you mean,” Zuko said carefully.

“Your confusion. About someone called, um, So-Kem?” she said flippantly.

“Sokka,” he hissed. “His name is Sokka.” Her face turned to ice. Her eyes faded to a near white, with no visible pupil. Zuko stepped back. Eska, or whoever it was, snarled at him. “You’re the one who took him.”

“He was alone! Pining after the moon spirit!” Eska’s voice was discordant, like metal against an iceberg. “No one should have remembered him!”

“Well, I do!” Zuko yelled, stepping forward as he got over his initial shock. Part of his brain was telling him not to. That Eska wasn’t human. That he didn’t stand a chance against a Spirit. The rest of him didn’t care. “Bring him back! Now!” He summoned up daggers of fire in his hands, his flames burning hotter than they ever had.

“You dare challenge me?” Eska snarled. Zuko struck at her, aim his flames for her face. She staggered back, out of reach. “You are just as alone as he is!”

“We are not alone.” Zuko struck with each word, jabbing at the Spirit. Eska kept backing up until she was pressed against the wall. Zuko held her in place, dagger at her throat. “I don’t care what you are. Bring him back!” Suddenly, Eska was gone. Zuko stumbled forward before quickly turning around, trying to seek her out. Instead, he found a beautiful young woman, with long white hair wearing flowing white and blue robes. She had pale blue eyes and Water Tribe symbols. At her feet was Eska, cowering. The woman looked at Zuko and met his eyes. Then both women faded into the air. In their place was Sokka. The man was grinning at him, despite the tears in his eyes. Zuko felt himself smile. Instantly, they were hugging.

“You did it,” Sokka breathed, squeezing Zuko tightly, burying his head in the taller man’s shoulder.

“I promised,” Zuko said. A moment later, still wrapped in each other’s arms, Zuko remembered another promise. “I love you.” Sokka pulled back, pouting some.

“No fair,” he whined. “I wanted to tell you first.”

“You had a plan,” Zuko chuckled.

“I did! I was gonna ask you on a date, and we were going to have this amazing meal and I was gonna kiss you!” Sokka huffed. Then his eyes lit up. Before Zuko could react, Sokka was kissing him. Zuko relaxed into the kiss, and Sokka pressed in closer. One of Sokka’s hands was buried in Zuko’s hair. The other was holding him close. They didn’t break apart until they needed to breathe.

“I’m glad you’re back, Sokka. I missed you.”

“I knew you’d find me.” Sokka smiled. He slipped his hand into Zuko’s and started tugging him down the hallway towards a new adventure. Together.


End file.
